Wikipedia:Manual of Style (legal)

[edit] Americola's celebrity biographies are provided by AmericolaWiki, a celebrity wiki. You can help contribute to Americola and edit this article.

This page is part of the Manual of Style, and is considered a guideline for Wikipedia. The consensus of many editors formed the conventions described here, and Wikipedia articles should heed these guidelines. Before making any major changes to these guidelines, please use the discussion page to ensure that your changes reflect consensus.

Guidance on style
Manual of Style
Supplementary manuals
Abbreviations Biographies Capital letters Command-line examples Dashes Dates and numbers Headings Legal Links Lists of works Mathematics Music Pronunciation Spelling Text formatting Titles Trademarks Writing about fiction
Special article styles
Disambiguation pages Arabic transliteration China-related articles Ethiopia-related articles Ireland-related articles Islam-related articles Japan-related articles Korea-related articles Latter Day Saints Medicine-related articles Portugal-related articles
Other guidance
How to edit a page Guide to layout Captions Categorization Categorization of people Cite sources Explain jargon Footnotes Writing better articles Lead section Lists Music samples Naming conventions Overlinking Picture tutorial Proper names Sections Sister projects Technical terms and definitions Words to avoid

Contents 1 Templates 2 General considerations 3 Article contents 3.1 Broad areas of law 3.2 Writing about particular cases 3.3 Writing about particular concepts 4 Citation

Templates

• Use the WikiProject Law template (when its been created!)
• Use the {{law-stub}} template for law related stubs

For specific areas of law...

• {{Template:ContractLaw}}
• {{Template:TortLaw}}
• {{Template:PropertyLaw}}
• {{Template:CrimLaw}}
• {{Template:EvidenceLaw}}

General considerations

• Wikipedia is not a guide for law students - try Wikibooks if you want to write a textbook
• Aim to provide an overview to an international lay audience
• Provide some depth and detail worthy of an encyclopedia
• Use plain language
• Keep in mind that there are several styles of legal system (civil law, sharia law, common law, customary law). No one style is more or less worthy of description than the others.
• Within a given style of legal system, the law may have evolved in divergent ways. No one development is more or less worthy of description than the others.
• Because the law differs between jurisdictions, when starting or making a big contribution to an article, state in the article's discussion page what jurisdiction you are writing about. Try to incorporate a comparative perspective, if possible.

Article contents

Broad areas of law

• Articles about broad areas of law, like Tort, should contain an overview of the law as it stands, its development.
• Avoid becoming overly technical

Writing about particular cases

• Start with a summary why the case is encyclopedic. What is its impact on society, what makes it stand out from all the other cases heard this year?
• Summary in fairly plain language, for a lay audience, possibly followed by a more detailed introduction. For those who do not read the whole decision, this is sufficient for a start.
• The legal details, for those who need to better understand the legal issues involved and how the court arrived at its decision.

Writing about particular concepts

• Provide a framework for the concept. E.g. - Contextualise Detinue as an intentional Tort against property.
• Link to landmark cases which define the concept

Citation

• Case names are italicised, as in the Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corporation article.
• Statutes are bolded, as in the Statute of Frauds 1677.
• Try to link to cases on Worldlii, Bailii, Austlii [1], or similar free resource (instead of a pay-to-use resource, or internet news articles).

Wikipedia information about Wikipedia:Manual of Style (legal) This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Wikipedia:Manual of Style (legal)". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.